Filipe Quevedo-Silva, Otavio Freire and Caroline Pauletto Spanhol-Finocchio
Over the last few years, several events have reduced the consumer confidence in relation to food safety. Recently, one event that triggered discussions and concern among consumers…
Abstract
Purpose
Over the last few years, several events have reduced the consumer confidence in relation to food safety. Recently, one event that triggered discussions and concern among consumers in Brazil was the “Carne Fraca” operation which cast doubt on the quality and safety of Brazilian beef. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of the news regarding a national crisis in beef production on consumers’ assessment and purchase intention of beef.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative study was conducted involving 417 respondents in Brazil. The procedure for the analysis consisted of the investigation of two models, incorporating mediation and moderation effects.
Findings
The results show that news on the crisis had a positive impact on risk perception. This impact was negatively moderated by consumer scepticism. Risk perception had a negative effect on the assessment of beef and purchase intention. These effects were negatively affected by risk attitude. The news directly affected consumers’ assessment of beef and indirectly affected purchase intention through mediation of perceived risk.
Originality/value
This study proposes two models, analysing the effect of the media on consumers’ assessment of beef and purchase intention, mediated by risk perception. Furthermore, the models analyse the moderating effects of scepticism and consumers’ risk attitude.
Details
Keywords
Caroline Pauletto Spanhol Finocchio and Homero Dewes
The purpose of this paper is to characterize food consumption outside the home and verify the existence of relationships between income, expenditure and the prevalence of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to characterize food consumption outside the home and verify the existence of relationships between income, expenditure and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in adult individuals in Brazil.
Design/methodology/approach
Food expenditure data were used as well as those on the prevalence of overweight and obesity available in the reports from Family Budgets Research carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in the years 2002-2003 and 2008-2009. In addition, the authors used the Kruskall-Wallis test to verify whether there were significant differences between the classes of income with respect to the average expenditure on food outside the home.
Findings
It was observed that the higher the income of the individual, the greater the expenditure on food outside the home. It was also found that the prevalence of overweight and obesity is higher in individuals who have higher income, particularly among men. Thus, it is suggested that the higher the income of the individual, the larger the expenditure on food outside the home and the greater the prevalence of overweight and obesity.
Research limitations/implications
This study used spending on food away from home (FAFH), but the authors know that is need to use other variables like frequency of FAFH and quantities but this data were not available.
Practical implications
The study points to the importance of restaurants in the prevention of obesity, since they can offer in their menus foods with fewer calories, and they can also increase the variety and availability of fruits and vegetables.
Originality/value
The study discusses the public health problem, obesity, at the same time as it presents the importance of agribusiness in providing a balanced diet for individuals.